Center's hospital, the Shelby Regional Medical Center, has closed its doors because its contract for Medicare and Medicaid coverage was terminated Wednesday. The facility's emergency room will remain openMore >>

Center's hospital, the Shelby Regional Medical Center, has closed its doors because its contract for Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement was terminated Wednesday. The facility's emergency room will remain open until Thursday at noon.More >>

TYLER, TX (KTRE) -

The former Chief Financial Officer for Dr. Tariq Mahmood's
Texas hospitals, which included the Shelby Regional Medical Center, has been
charged with health care fraud violations in the Eastern District of Texas,
announced U.S. Attorney John M. Bales today.

Joe White, 66, of Cameron, Texas, was indicted by a federal
grand jury on Jan. 22, 2014, and charged with making false statements to the
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and aggravated identity
theft. White appeared for an arraignment hearing today before U.S.
Magistrate Judge John D. Love.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
established incentive payments under the Medicare and Medicaid programs for
eligible professionals and eligible hospitals that meaningfully use Certified
Electronic Health Record Technology. The incentive programs were created to
promote the adoption of health information technology and encourage the electronic
exchange of health information in order to improve the quality and lower the
cost of health care in the United States. Upon meeting certain conditions, an
eligible hospital could qualify for incentive payments from CMS if the hospital
attested that it had meaningfully used Certified Electronic Health Record
Technology for the prior fiscal year.

According to the indictment, on Nov. 20, 2012, White falsely
attested to CMS that Shelby Regional Medical Center (Shelby Regional) met the
meaningful use requirements for the 2012 fiscal year. However, Shelby
Regional relied on paper records throughout the fiscal year and only minimally
used electronic health records. To give the false appearance that the
hospital was actually using Certified Electronic Health Record Technology,
White directed its software vendor and hospital employees to manually input
data from paper records into the electronic health record (EHR) software, often
times months after the patient was discharged and after the end of the fiscal year.

The indictment further alleges that White falsely attested
to the hospital's meaningful use by using another person's name and information
without that individual's consent or authorization. As a result of the
false attestation, CMS paid Shelby Regional $785,655.00. In total,
hospitals operated by Dr. Mahmood, including Shelby Regional, were paid
$16,794,462.66 by the Medicaid and Medicare EHR incentive programs for fiscal
years 2011 and 2012.

"As more and more federal dollars are made available to
providers to adopt Electronic Health Record systems, our office is expecting to
see more cases like this one," said Special Agent in Charge Mike Fields of the
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General's
(OIG) Dallas Regional Office. "The Office of Inspector General is
committed to protecting the millions of taxpayer dollars used to pay providers
to adopt Electronic Health Record systems."

If convicted, White faces up to five years in federal prison
for making a false statement and up to two years in federal prison for
aggravated identity theft.

This case is being investigated by the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services – Office of the Inspector General (HHS-OIG), the
Texas Office of the Attorney General – Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (OAG-MFCU),
and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney
Nathaniel C. Kummerfeld and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth C. McGurk
are prosecuting this case.

A grand jury indictment is not evidence of guilt and all
defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt
in a court of law.

Early childhood educators have been emphasizing the skill of coding to younger and younger age groups. Friday. Dunbar Primary School revealed that they're joining the trend by teaching their kindergarten and 2nd grade "Gifted and Talented" classes coding and technology skills, through toys, activities, and games.

Early childhood educators have been emphasizing the skill of coding to younger and younger age groups. Friday. Dunbar Primary School revealed that they're joining the trend by teaching their kindergarten and 2nd grade "Gifted and Talented" classes coding and technology skills, through toys, activities, and games.